The present invention relates to synthetic polypeptides. In particular it relates to synthetic polypeptides which emulate the three-dimensional structures and/or electrostatic surfaces and/or other physical, chemical and structural properties of specific regions of proteins thought to be the involved in the molecular pathology of spongiform encephalopathies. It is of particular interest to the design of immunodiagnostics, vaccines and other medical, veterinary or scientific agents in relation to human, bovine and ovine spongiform encephalopathies.
Spongiform encephalopathies are a group of, degenerative neurological diseases. Examples have been found in a number of species including sheep (where it is known as scrapie), cows (BSE) and humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and kuru) (Review article, Taylor, D. M. Veterinary Record 125,413-415 (1989)). Similar conditions have also been found in the wild mink population and in captive kudus (a kind of antelope) and tigers. It has been variously reported that BSE can be transmitted under laboratory conditions to mice and pigs. This crossing of species barriers by the infective agent has led to increased concern that transfer to humans could occur.
These diseases are characterised by a slow incubation time of four to five years after which the clinical symptoms of progressive degeneration of mental state, including aggressiveness and lack of coordination, appear. Post mortems reveal a characteristic pattern of vacuolation in brain tissue due to the destruction of neural cells, and the deposition of unusual protein fibres.
Although the form of the disease found in sheep (scrapie) has been known for many years, spongiform encephalopathies have come to prominence within the last decade following the appearance of BSE in cattle farms. The incidence of BSE in the United Kingdom has increased markedly during this period and public concern over the possible transmission of the disease to humans has led to a collapse in the beef market. Thus for both veterinary and economic reasons, there is an urgent need for diagnostic agents to detect infection and for vaccines to prevent infection.
It is believed that the causative agent of scrapie and its counterparts in other animals is a so-called xe2x80x9cprionxe2x80x9d, that is an infective particle comprising protein only and no nucleic acid, the presence of the latter being required in the case of a conventional virus. In scrapie, one particular protein (termed prion protein, PrPsc) has been found to co-purify with infectivity and can produce a scrapie-like condition in brain cell cultures from other animals, such as hamsters, under laboratory conditions. PrPsc is the only known component of the characteristic protein fibres deposited in the brain tissue of scrapie-infected sheep. The term xe2x80x9cPrPscxe2x80x9d as used herein should be taken to refer not only to the specific Prion protein identified in sheep but also to those homologous proteins found in many other species which appear to undergo a structural modification as described hereinafter. The term xe2x80x9cPrPcxe2x80x9d shall be used in respect of the normal cellular counterpart to PrPsc.
The major problem in the search for a specific diagnostic agent or synthetic vaccine against the scrapie agent PrPsc is that it is almost identical to the natural form of the protein PrPc. The natural function of this protein. is not yet understood but the remarkably strong conservation of primary structure between homologous proteins from different species suggests that it has an essential structural or functional role within the organism.
In spite of the almost identical form of these prions to the natural proteins, we have deduced synthetic peptide structures comprising at least one antigenic property, such as an epitopic site and these synthetic peptides may be used to produce diagnostic agents and vaccines.
The responses of the B and T cells of the immune system are not specified by a global recognition of a whole protein but rather by recognition of a small region of the protein surface known as epitopic site. Such sites may be formed by a continuous section of peptide chain or may be discontinuous, where separated sections of peptide chain are brought together at the protein surface due to folding of the chain. One aim in producing a synthetic peptide vaccine is to mimic the structure of a particular epitope and thereby cause a primary immune response leading to the production of memory B cells which will secrete antibodies on subsequent exposure to the parent protein so producing a greatly enhanced response to secondary infection. A similar mechanism via priming of the cytotoxic T cells to respond more vigorously to a particular antigen will also occur.
However, problems exist with the application of traditional methods of vaccine production to this disease as it is believed that the molecular structure of the protein prion rather than nucleic acid sequence passes on infectivity in the prion. The usual method of viral vaccine production involves the inactivation of the virus in some way to destroy infectivity whilst preserving epitopic sites. Such techniques as heat treatment or serial passaging of the virus through a culture are used, but these approaches would not lead to a loss of infectivity of a prion unless conditions were such as to cause protein denaturation. If the conditions are severe enough to inactivate the prion protein then denaturation of the protein occurs and any epitopic sites are lost. Thus there is a major problem in trying to obtain antigenic but non-infective prion proteins by conventional routes. It is known, for example, that the scrapie agent in sheep is particularly resistant to chemical or physical inactivation (Hodgson,, J. Bio/Technology 8 990 (1990)).
In one aspect our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide having at least one antigenic site of a prion protein. Preferably the prion protein is of a form which only exists in nervous tissue of a mammal suffering from spongiform encephalopathy.
We have found that prion proteins of the type mentioned above comprise six regions of interest, labelled A to F, and two related frame shift peptide sequences, viz:1) a repeating section in region E having undergone a nucleic acid coding sequence frame shift of +1 (FSa) and 2) the repeating section in region E having undergone a nucleic acid coding sequence frame shift of xe2x88x921 (FSb).
With regard to region A, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general Formula (I): (SEQ ID NO: 52)
X-(R1-Lys-His-R2)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-R3-Gly-Ala-Val-xe2x80x94Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-R4-R5)-Yxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
wherein R1 is an amino acid residue selected from Met, Leu and Phe;
R2 is either Met or Val;
R3 is Ala or is absent;
R4 and R5 are independently an amino acid residue selected from Leu, Ile and Met; one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.
It will be apparent for example that the residues at the N-terminal of the sequence may be present as xe2x80x9cR2xe2x80x9d- or xe2x80x9cHis-R2-,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cLys-His-R2-xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cR1-Lys-His-R2-.xe2x80x9d Similarly, the preferable residues at the C-terminal may be present as xe2x80x9c-Argxe2x80x9d, or xe2x80x9c-Arg-Pro,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c-Arg-Pro-R4,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c-Arg-Pro-R4-R5.xe2x80x9d
Preferably, R1, if present, is Met, R3 is Ala and R5, if present, is Ile. Also, if R2 is Met then R4, if present, is Ile. Below are preferred sequences (Seq. I.D. No: 1 and Seq. I.D. No: 2) of formula I relating to bovine and ovine and to human prion proteins respectively:
Seq. I.D. No: 1
X-(Met-Lys-His-Val)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 2
X-(Met-Lys-His-Met)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile)-Y.
A particularly preferred sequence according to formula I is Seq. I.D. No: 51
Lys-His-Met-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Gly-Cys.
Naturally, our invention encompasses significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to formula I above and preferred sub-fragments are:
i) X-(His-R2-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-R3-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Y and;
ii) X-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-R4-R5)-Y
wherein R2, R3, R4, R5, X and Y are as defined for formula I and one or more residues in brackets may be absent or present as in formula I.
It will be clear from the foregoing that preferred sub-fragments relating to both bovines and ovines are
Seq. I.D. No: 3
i) X-(His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-Gly-(Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 4
ii) X-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile)-Y.
Similarly, preferred sub-fragments for humans are:
Seq. I.D. No: 5
i) X-(His-Met-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val-Val-Gly-(Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 6
ii) X-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile)-Y.
With regard to region B, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general Formula II (SEQ. ID NO: 53):
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-R4-R5-His-Phe-Gly-R6-Aspxe2x80x94R7-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-R8-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y II (SEQ ID NO: 53)
wherein R4 and R5 are the same as in formula I;
R6 is either Asn or Ser;
R7 is either Tyr or Trp;
R8 is an amino acid residue selected from His, Tyr and Asn;
one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and
X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.
Preferably in a sequence according to Formula II (SEQ ID NO: 53), R5 is Ile, R7 is Tyr and R8 is His or Tyr. Below are preferred sequences of formula II relating to bovine, ovine and human prion proteins respectively:
Seq. I.D. No: 7
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-His-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y;
Seq. I.D.. No: 8
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Asn-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 9
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-His-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y.
Particularly preferred sequences are selected from Seq. I.D. No: 42
Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Asn-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys; and
Seq. I.D. No: 43
Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys.
Again it will be apparent that our invention encompasses significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to FORMULA II and a preferred general sub-fragment has the sequence:
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-R4-R5-His-Phe-Gly-R6-Asp-R7-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn-Met)-Y
wherein R4 to R7, X and Y are as defined in Formula II (SEQ ID NO: 53) and one or more residues in brackets may be present or absent. Preferably, R5 is Ile and R7 is Tyr. It will be appreciated that preferred sub-fragments relating to bovines, ovines and humans are respectively;
Seq. I.D. No: 10
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn-Met)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 11
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Asn-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn-Met)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 12
X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn-Met)-Y.
Our invention provides in respect of region C a synthetic peptide sequence according to general Formula III (SEQ ID NO: 54):
X-(Asn-Met-R8-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-R9-Aspxe2x80x94R10-Tyr-R11-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y III (SEQ ID NO: 54)
wherein R8 is an amino acid residue selected from His, Tyr and Asn;
R9 is Val or Met;
R10 is an amino acid residue selected from Gln, Glu and Arg;
R11 is Ser or Asn; one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.
Preferably in a sequence according to Formula III (SEQ ID NO: 54), R8 is His or Tyr and R11 is Ser. Below are preferred sequences of formula III relating to bovine, ovine and human prion proteins respectively:
Seq. I.D. No: 13
X-(Asn-Met-His-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 14
X-(Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 15
X-(Asn-Met-His-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Met-Asp-Glu-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.
Particularly preferred sequences are selected from Seq. I.D. No: 44
Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-Gly-Cys; and
Seq. I.D. No: 45
Asn-Met-His-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-Gly-Cys.
Significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to Formula III (SEQ ID NO: 54) form part of this invention and a preferred sub-fragment has the sequence:
X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-R9-Asp-R10-Tyr-R11-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.
Preferred sub-fragments relating to bovines, ovines and humans are respectively:
Seq. I.D. No: 16
X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 17
X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 18
X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Met-Asp-Glu-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.
In respect of region D, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general Formula IV (SEQ ID NO: 55):
X-(Tyr-Tyr-R12-R13-Arg)-R14-R15-Ser-R16-R17-R18xe2x80x94Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu-ILe-phe-Leu-R19-Val-Gly-Y IV (SEQ ID NO: 55)
wherein R12 is Asp or Gln;
R13 is Gly or absent;
R14 is Gly or Arg;
R15 is Ala or Ser;
R16 is Ser or absent;
R17 is an amino acid residue selected from Ala, Thr, Met and Val;
R18 is Val or Ile;
R19 is Ile or Met; one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.
Preferably in a sequence according to Formula IV (SEQ ID NO: 55) R12 is Gln, R13 is absent, R14 is Gly, R16 is absent, R17 is Val or Met and R19 is Ile.
Preferred sequences of Formula IV (SEQ ID NO: 55) relating to bovine and ovine and to human prion proteins respectively are given below:
Seq. I.D. No: 19
X-(Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg)-Gly-Ala-Ser-Val-Ile-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu-Ile-Phe-Leu-Ile-Val-Gly-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 20
X-(Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg)-Gly-Ser-Ser-Met-Val-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu-Ile-Phe-Leu-Ile-Val-Gly-Y.
Clearly, it will be recognised that the present invention includes with its ambit significant subfragments of the sequence according to Formula IV (SEQ ID NO: 55) and a preferred general sub-fragment has the sequence:
X-(-R14-R15-Ser-R16-R17)-R18-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-y
Wherein R14 to R18, X and Y are as defined in formula IV and one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent as in formula IV.
It is preferred that in a sub-fragment as given above, R14 is Gly, R16 is absent and R17 is Val or Met. Below are preferred sub-fragments relating to bovines and ovines and to humans respectively:
Seq. I.D. No: 21
X-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val) Ile-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 22
X-(Gly-Ser-Ser-Met)-Val-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-Y.
Our invention provides in respect of Region E three synthetic polypeptide sequences according to general formulae VA (SEQ ID NO: 56), Vb (SEQ ID NO: 57), and Vc (SEQ ID NO: 58):
X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-R20)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Glyxe2x80x94Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-R21-R22-Trp)-Y VA (SEQ ID NO: 56)
X-(Gly-Gly-R21-R22-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-R23-Trp(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y Vb (SEQ ID NO: 57) and
X-(Gly-Gly-GIy-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-R24-R25-His-R26-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-R27xe2x80x94Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-R28-R29-Lys(-His-R30-Ala-Gly)-Y VC (SEQ ID NO: 58).
Wherein R20, R21, R23 and R24 are each independently either Gly or absent;
R22 either Gly or Thr;
R25 is either Thr or Ser;
R26 is an amino acid residue selected from Gly, Ser and Asn;
R27 and R28 are each independently either Asn or Ser;
R29 is an amino acid residue selected from Met, Leu and Phe;
R30 is either Val or Met; one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.
With regard to formulae Va to Vc above, it is preferred that R22 is Gly, R23 is absent, R26 is Gly or Ser, R27 is Ser, R28 is Asn and R29 is Met.
Preferred bovine sequences of prion proteins according to formulae Va to Vc are given below:
Seq. I.D. No: 23
X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Atg-Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 24
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 25
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Thr-His-Gly-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys(-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y.
Preferred sequences of formulae Va to Vc relating to ovine prion proteins are as follows:
Seq. I.D. No: 26
X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 27
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 28
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys(-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y.
Preferred sequences of Formulae Va to Vc relating to human prion proteins are as follows:
Seq. I.D. No: 29
X-Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y;
Seq. I.D. No: 30
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and
Seq. I.D. No: 31
X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Gly-Thr-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys(-His-Met-Ala-Gly)-Y.
Particularly preferred sequences of Formulae Va to Vc consist of:
Seq. I.D. No: 49
Gly-Gly-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys;
Seq. I.D. No: 46
Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Cys; and
Seq. I.D. No: 47
Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys-His-Val-Gly-Cys.
We have noted that in the nucleic acid sequence corresponding to region E, it is possible for the repeating sequence of formula Vb(SEQ ID NO: 57) to have undergone a frame shift of either +1 or xe2x88x921. Such frame shifts give rise to altered sequences in region E of the prion protein and our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide having a sequence wherein a repeat in region E has undergone a xe2x88x921 frame shift as given in Formula VI(SEQ ID NO: 59)
X-(R31-R32-Trp-R33)-Trp-Leu-Gly-R34-R35-R36-Trp-R37 (Trp-Leu-Gly-R38)-Y (VI)(SEQ ID NO: 59)
Wherein R31 and R35, are each independently either Ala or Thr; R32 and R36 are each independently an amino acid residue selected from Ser, Pro and Thr; R33 and R37 are each independently either Trp or Arg; R34 and R38 are each independently an amino acid residue selected from Ala, Ser, Pro and Thr; one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more, additional amino acid residues.
With regard to xe2x88x921 frame shifts in respect of region E in bovines, it is preferred that R31 is Ala, R32, R34, R36 and R38 are each independently either Ser or Pro, R33 and R37 are Arg and R35 is Ala.
It should be noted that preferred sequences for xe2x88x921 frame shifts in region E of ovines differ in some respects to those given for bovines and in a preferred ovine sequence R31, R32, R33, R35, R36 and R37 correspond to the definitions given for formula VI above; and R34 and R38 are each independently selected from Ser, Pro and Thr.
In a preferred human sequence according to formula VI R31, R34, R35 and R38 are each Ala, R32 and R36 are each independently either Ser or Pro and R33 and R37 are both Trp.
As mentioned previously, the frame shift may be +1 in the repeat portion of region E and this gives rise to different amino acid sequences. Accordingly, our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide according to Formula VII(SEQ ID NO: 60) below which relates to a +1 frame shift in the repeat of region E:
X-(R39-R40-Met-R41)-Val-Ala-Gly-R42-R43-R44-Met-R45-(Val-Ala-Gly-R6)-Y VII(SEQ ID NO: 60)
Wherein R39 and R43 are each independently either Ser or Asn; R40 and R44 are each independently an amino acid residue selected from Pro, Leu and His, R41 and R45 are each independently Val or Glu; R42 and R46 are each independently selected from Val, Ala, Asp and Gly; one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more, additional amino acid residues.
A preferred bovine sequence according to Formula VII(SEQ ID NO: 60) comprises R39 and R43 each being Ser, R42 and R46 each being independently either Val or Ala and R44 being either Pro or Leu; with the other R groups being as defined in Formula VII(SEQ ID NO: 60).
A preferred sequence according to formula VII relating to ovines is the same as given in general formula VII except R42 and R46 are each independently selected from Val, Ala and Asp.
With regard to a preferred human sequence according to formula VII, R39 and R43 are Ser, R40 and R44 are each independently Pro or Leu, R41 and R45 are Val and R42 and R46 are each independently either Asp or Gly
Our invention also provides a synthetic peptide sequence relating to region F and having either the general Formula VIIIA(SEQ ID NO: 61) and VIIIB(SEQ ID NO: 62).
X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-R47-Lys-R48-His-Thr-Valxe2x80x94R49-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-R50-Lys)-Y (VIIIA(SEQ ID NO: 61)
X-(Met-Cys-R51-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-R52-R53-Glu-Ser-Gln-Alaxe2x80x94Tyr-Tyr-R54-R55-Arg-(R56-R57-Ser-R58-R59)-Y (VIIIB(SEQ ID NO: 62)
Wherein R47 is either Ile or Val;
R48 and R52 are each independently either Gln or Glu;
R49 is either Val or Thr;
R50 is either Val or Ile;
R51 is an amino acid residue selected from Ile, Thr and Val;
R52 is Gln or Glu;
R53 is either Arg or Lys;
R54 is either Asp or Gln;
R55 is Gly or is absent;
R56 is either Gly or Arg;
R57 is either Ala or Ser;
R58 is Ser or absent;
R59 is an amino acid residue selected from Ala, Thr, Met and Val;
one or more residues within brackets maybe present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more, e.g,. 3, additional amino acid residues.
It is preferred in Formula VIIIA(SEQ ID NO: 61) that R49 is Thr and in Formula VIIIB(SEQ ID NO: 62) that R51 is Ile, R53 is Arg, R54 is Gln, R55 is absent, R56 is Gly, R57 is Ala and R58 is absent.
Most preferred bovine, ovine and human sequences according to Formulae VIIIA(SEQ ID NO: 61) and VIIIB(SEQ ID NO: 62) are given below in order:
Seq. I.D. No: 32
X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val-Lys-Glu-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-Ile-Lys)-Y bovine (VIIIa), and
Seq. I.D. No: 33
X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val)-Y bovine (VIIIb);
Seq. I.D. No: 34
X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val-Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-Ile-Lys)-Y ovine (VIIIa), and
Seq. I.D. No: 35
X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val)-Y ovine (VIIIb);
Seq. I.D. No: 36
X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Ile-Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-Val-Lys)-Y human (VIIIa), and
Seq. I.D. No: 37
X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Glu-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ser-Ser-Met)-Y human (VIIIb)
Particularly preferred sequences according to formula VIIIa and VIIIb are selected from
Seq. I.D. No: 50
Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val-Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-Gly-Cys; and
Seq. I.D. No: 48
Cys-Ile-Thr-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg.
Synthetic polypeptides according to any one of Formulae I to VIIIb above without X and Y being present will of course be useful, for example, in the production of antibodies. However, when X or Y are present they may be any length but preferably less than 20 amino acids, more preferably less than 10, eg. 3 to 6. It will of course be appreciated that a sequence according to any one of Formulae I to VIIIb may constitute a protein with X and Y being major portions of the protein with the antigenic sequence being for example, part of an exposed loop on a globular protein.
It is preferred that if X or Y are present they are relatively short sequences, typically 1 to 3 residues long. In most instances X is preferably absent and Y is 1 or 2 residues long, e.g. -Cys or -Gly-Cys.
All the sequences herein are stated -using the standard I.U.P.A.C. three-letter-code abbreviations for amino acid residues defined as follows: Gly-Glycine, Ala-Alanine, Val-Valine, Leu-Leucine, Ile-Isoleucine, Ser-Serine, Thr-Threonine, Asp-Aspartic acid, Glu-Glutamic acid, Asn-Asparagine, Gln-Glutamine, Lys-Lysine, His-Histidine, Arg-Arginine, Phe-Phenylalanine, Tyr-Tyrosine, Trp-Tryptophan, Cys-Cysteine, Met-Methionine and Pro-Proline.
Polypeptides according to the invention may be used to raise antibodies which will cross-react with prion proteins produced in a wide range of organisms. Our analyses have shown that since the conformational, topographic and electrostatic properties of polypeptides according to the invention are such that they are highly likely to elicit the production of antibodies which will cross-react with prion proteins from several or many organisms, further advantages may arise from combining several variant polypeptides in a larger polypeptide. Such a polypeptide may have the general Formula (IX):
[Laxe2x88x92F]m[Lbxe2x88x92G]nxe2x88x92Lcxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IX)
wherein F and G may each independently be a polypeptide or sub-fragment according to any one of Formulae I to VIIIb, L is a linking sequence, a, b and c are each independently 0 or 1 and m and n are each positive numbers e.g. between 1 and 10 inclusive. L is preferably a short, conformationally flexible section of polypeptide chain such as, for example and without limit (Seq. I.D. No: 38) Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly, (Seq. I.D. No: 39) Gly-Pro-Gly-Pro-Gly-Pro or (Seq. I.D. No: 40) Gly-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ser-Gly-Ala. It should be clear that each repeat may optionally have a different variant of a polypeptide according to the invention.
It should be noted certain of the C-teminals correspond to N-terminals, particularly Formula VA(SEQ ID NO: 66) to formula Vb, formula VC(SEQ ID NO: 58) to formula I, formula I to Formula II, Formula II(SEQ ID NO: 53) to formula III, formula III to formula VIIIa and formula VIIIb to formula IV. Advantage may be taken to this correspondence when producing larger polypeptides according to formula IX. Linking sequences together with respective X and Y moieties may be omitted and residues in brackets may be selected so that either the regions of correspondence are duplicated or some or all of the duplicated residues are omitted. In the latter case it will be seen that the C-terminal of one polypeptide merges with the N-terminal of the other polypeptide.
Polyvalent determinant analogues as defined by Formula IX may be either what is referred to as pseudohomopolyvalent, wherein variants of essentially the same determinant analogue are repeated in a single polypeptide chain and/or heteropolyvalent, wherein distinct determinants are included in a single polypeptide. In addition, simple homopolvvalent polypeptide immunogens, which contain multiple copies of the same variant of one of the determinant analogues according to any one of formulae I to VIIIb, would also be expected to be effective, and are also included within the scope of the present invention.
It is to be understood that any antigenically significant subfragments and/or antigenically significant variants of the above-identified polypeptide sequences which retain the general form and function of the parent polypeptide are included within the scope of this invention. In particular, the substitution of any of the specific residues by residues having comparable conformational and/or physical properties, including substitution by rare (but naturally occurring, e.g. D-stereoisomers) or synthetic amino acid analogues, is included. For example, substitution of a residue by another in the same Set, as defined below, is included within the ambit of the invention; Set 1xe2x80x94Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Phe, Tyr, Trp and Met; Set 2xe2x80x94Ser, Thr, Asn and Gln; Set 3xe2x80x94Asp and Glu; Set 4xe2x80x94Lys, His and Arg; Set 5xe2x80x94Asn and Asp; Set 6xe2x80x94Glu and Gln; Set 7xe2x80x94Gly, Ala, Pro, Ser and Thr. D-stereoisomers of all amino acid types, may be substituted, for example, D-Phe, D-Tyr and D-Trp.
In preferred embodiments of The invention, X and Y if present may independently include one or more segments of protein sequence with the ability to act as a T-cell epitope. For example, segments of amino acid sequence of the general formula 1-2-3-4, where 1 is Gly or a charged amino acid (e.g. Lys, His, Arg, Asp or Glu), 2 is a hydrophobic amino acid (e.g. Ile, Leu, Val, Met, Tyr, Phe, Trp, Ala), 3 is-either a hydrophobic amino acid (as defined above) or an uncharged polar amino acid (e.g. Asn, Ser, Thr, Pro, Gln, Gly), and 4 is a polar amino acid (e.g. Lys, Arg, His, Glu, Asp, Asn, Gln, Ser, Thr, Pro), appear to act as T-cell epitopes in at least some instances (Rothbard, J. B. and Taylor, W. R. (1988). A sequence pattern in common to T-cell epitopes. The EMBO Journal 7(1): 93-100). Similarly segments can be of the sequence 1xe2x80x2-2xe2x80x2-3xe2x80x2-4xe2x80x2-5xe2x80x2, wherein 1xe2x80x2 is equivalent to 1 as defined earlier, 2xe2x80x2 to 2, 3xe2x80x2 and 4xe2x80x2 to 3, and 5xe2x80x2 to 4 (ibid). Both forms are included within the scope of the present invention and one or more T-cell epitopes (preferably less than five) which may be of the type defined above or may be of other structure and which may be separated by spacer segments of any length or composition, preferably less than five amino acid residues in length and comprising for example residues selected from Gly, Ala, Pro, Asn, Thr, Ser or polyfunctional linkers such as non-xcex1 amino acids. It is possible for a C- or N-terminal linker to represent a complete protein, thus obviating the possible need for conjugation to a carrier protein.
Also included within the scope of this invention are derivatives of the polypeptides according to any one Formulae I to VIIIb in which X or Y are or include a xe2x80x9cretro-inversoxe2x80x9d amino acid, i.e. a bifunctional amine having a functional group corresponding to an amino acid. For example an analogue according to the invention and containing a retro-inverso amino acid may have the formula: 
where R is any functional group, e.g. a glycine side chain, and A1 and A2 are preferably each a copy of one of the analogues defined herein (but not necessarily the same) attached by its N- or C-terminal end. T-cell epitopes may optionally be included as discussed earlier.
Retro-inverso modification of peptides involves the reversal of one or more peptide bonds to create analogues more resistant than the original molecule to enzymatic degradation and offer one convenient route to the generation of branched immunogens which contain a high concentration of epitope for a medium to large immunogen. The use of these compounds in large-scale solution synthesis of retro-inverso analogues of short-chain biologically active peptides has great potential.
Peptides according to the invention may be synthesised by standard peptide synthesis techniques, for example using either standard 9-fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl (F-Moc) chemistry (see, for example, Atherton, E. and Sheppard, R. C. (1985) J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm. 165) or standard butyloxycarbonate (T-Boc) chemistry although it is noted that, more recently, the fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)/tert-butyl system, developed by Sheppard et al has found increasingly wide application (Sheppard, R. C. 1986 Science Tools, The LKB Journal 33, 9). The correctness of the structure and the level of purity, which will normally be in excess of 85%, should be carefully checked, and particular attention be given to the correctness of internal disulphide bridging arrangements when present. Various chromatographic analyses, including high performance liquid chromatography, and spectrographic analyses, including Raman spectroscopy, may for example be employed for this purpose.
It is to be understood that the polypeptides according to the invention may be synthesised by any conventional method, either directly using manual or automated peptide synthesis techniques as mentioned above, or indirectly by RNA or DNA synthesis and conventional techniques of molecular biology and genetic engineering. Such techniques may be used to produce hybrid proteins containing one or more of the polypeptides inserted into another polypeptide sequence.
Another aspect of the present invention therefore provides a DNA molecule coding for at least one synthetic polypeptide according to the invention, preferably incorporated into a suitable expression vector replicable in microorganisms or in mammalian cells. The DNA may also be part of the DNA sequence for a longer product e.g. the polypeptides may be expressed as parts of other proteins into which they have been inserted by genetic engineering. One practical guide to such techniques is xe2x80x9cMolecular cloning: a laboratory manualxe2x80x9d by Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. and Maniatis, T. (2 nd Edition, 1989).
It should be noted that analogues incorporating retro-inverso amino acid derivatives cannot be made directly using a recombinant DNA system. However, the basic analogues can, and they can then be purified and chemically linked to the retro-inverso amino-acids using standard peptide/organic chemistry. A practical and convenient novel procedure for the solid-phase synthesis on polyamide-type resin of retro-inverso peptides has been described recently [Gazerro, H., Pinori, M. and Verdini, A. S. (1990). A new general procedure for the solid-phase synthesis of retro-inverso peptides. In xe2x80x9cInnovation and Perspectives in Solid phase Synthesisxe2x80x9d Ed. Roger Epton. SPCC (UK) Ltd, Birmingham, UK].
The polypeptides are optionally linked to a carrier molecule, either through chemical groups within the polypeptides themselves or through additional amino acids added at either the C- or N-terminus, and which may be separated from the polypeptides themselves or surrounded by one or more additional amino acids, in order to render them optimal for their immunological function. Many linkages are suitable and include for example use of the side chains of Tyr, Cys and Lys residues. Suitable carriers include, for example, purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD), tetanus toxoid (TT), cholera toxin and its B subunit, ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI), muramyl dipeptide (MDP) and analogues thereof, diphtheria toxoid (DPT), keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) and Braun""s lipoprotein although other suitable carriers will be apparent to the skilled person. For example, multiple a tigen peptides may be used such as those comprising a polylysyl core, e.g. heptalysyl, bearing reactive amine termini. Polypeptide antigens according to the invention may be reacted with, or synthesised on, the amino termini and different polypeptide antigens may be reacted with the same core or carrier. When using PPD as a carrier for polypeptides according to the invention, a higher titre of antibodies is achieved if the recipient of the polypeptide-PPD conjugate is already tuberculin sensitive, e.g. by virtue of earlier BCG vaccination. In the case of a human vaccine it is worth noting that in the UK and many other countries the population is routinely offered BCG vaccination and is therefore largely PPD-sensitive. Hence PPD is expected to be a preferred carrier for use in such countries.
The mode of coupling the polypeptide to the carrier will depend on the nature of the materials to be coupled. For example, a lysine residue in the carrier may be coupled to a C-terminal or other cysteine residue in a polypeptide by treatment with N-xcex3-maleimidobutyryloxy-succinimide (Kitagawa, T. and Ackawa, T. (1976) J. Biochem. 79, 233). Alternatively, a lysine residue in the carrier may be conjugated to a glutamic or aspactic acid residue in the peptide using isobutylchloroformate (Thorell, J. I. De Larson, S. M. (1978) Radioimmunoassay and related techniques: Methodology and clinical applications, p.288). Other coupling reactions and reagents have been described in the literature.
The polypeptides, either alone or linked to a carrier molecule, may be administered by any route (eg parenteral, nasal, oral, rectal, intra-vaginal), with or without the use of conventional adjuvants (such as aluminium hydroxide or Freund""s complete or incomplete adjuvants) and/or other immunopotentiating agents. The invention also includes formulation of polypeptides according to the invention in slow-release forms, such as a sub-dermal implant or depot comprising, for example, liposomes (Allison, A. C. and Gregoriadis, G. (1974) Nature (London) 252, 252) or biodegradable microcapsules manufactured from co-polymers of lactic acid and glycolic acids (Gresser, J. D. and Sanderson, J. E. (1984) in xe2x80x9cBiopolymer Controlled Release Systemsxe2x80x9d pp 127-138, Ed. D. L. Wise).
Polypeptides according to the invention may be used either alone or linked to an appropriate carrier, as:
(a) As ligands in assays of, for example, serum from patients or animals;
(b) Peptide vaccines, for use in prophylaxis;
(c) As quality control agents in testing, for example, binding levels of antibodies raised against the polypeptides;
(d) As antigenic agents for the generation of monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies by immunisation of an appropriate animal, such antibodies being of use for (i) the scientific study of prion proteins, (ii) as diagnostic agents, e.g. as part of immunohistochemical reagents, (iii) for the passive immunisation of animals or patients, either as a treatment for encephalophathies or in combination with other agents, (iv) as a means of targeting other agents to regions comprising prion proteins, such agents either being linked covalently or otherwise associated, e.g. as in liposomes containing such agents and incorporating antibodies raised against any of the antigenic polypeptides and (v) for use as immunogens to raise anti-idiotype antibodies; such anti-idiotype antibodies also form part of this invention. The invention further provides for cometically engineered forms or sub-components, especially VH regions, of antibodies raised against the polypeptides, and of ovinised, bovinised, or humanised forms of antibodies initially raised against the polypeptides in other animals, using techniques described in the literature; and
(e) The treatment of encephalopathies, either by displacing the binding of prion proteins to human or animal cells or by disturbing the three-dimensional organisation of the protein in vivo; as well as aiding the scientific study of prion proteins in vitro.
In respect of detection and diagnosis, of prion proteins or antibodies against prion proteins, the skilled person will be aware of a variety of immunoassay techniques known in the art, inter alia, sandwich assay, competitive and non-competitive assays and the use of direct and indirect labelling.
A further aspect of the invention provides a kit for detecting prion proteins or antibodies against prion proteins which comprises at least one synthetic polypeptide according to the invention. The
The preparation of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies, humanised forms of such antibodies (see, for example, Thompson K. M. et al (1986) Immunology 58, 157-160), single domain antibodies (see, for example, Ward, E. S., Gussow, D., Griffiths, A. D., Jones, P. and Winter, G. (1989) Nature 341, 544-546), and antibodies which might cross the blood-brain barrier, which bind specifically to a synthetic polypeptide according to the present invention, may be carried out by conventional means and such antibodies are considered to form part of this invention. Antibodies according to the invention are, inter alia, of use in a method of diagnosing mammalian encephalopathies which comprises incubating a sample of tissue or body fluid of mammal with an amount of antibody as described herein and determining whether, and if desired the extent to which and/or rate at which, cross-reaction between said sample and said antibody occurs. Diagnostic kits which contain at least one of said antibodies also form part of this invention.
A further aspect of the invention provides. synthetic polypeptides for use in therapy or prophylaxis of mammalian encephalopathies and/or stimulating the mammalian immune system and/or blocking the cellular binding or aggregation of the prion proteins and for the preparation of medicaments suitable for such uses. Also included are pharmaceutical compositions containing, as active ingredient, at least one polypeptide or polypeptide-carrier conjugate as described herein in association with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable adjuvants, carriers and/or excipients. The compositions may be formulated for oral, rectal, nasal or especially parenteral administration (including intra-CNS administration).
The invention further provides a method of therapy or prophylaxis of mammalian encephalopathies and/or of stimulating the mammalian immune system and/or of blocking the cellular binding or aggregation of the prion proteins, which comprises administering an amount of a polypeptide as hereinbefore defined, either in isolation or in combination with other agents for the treatment of encephalopathies.
Discrimination between natural PrPc and PrPsc is highly desired since PrPc is found in normal subjects and both PrPc and PrPsc are found in a diseased subject. We have found that peptide sequences according to the invention, preferably those relating to regions A, B and C, and significant sub-fragments thereof may be used to discriminate between natural PrPc and infective PrPsc. Also, antibodies raised against these peptide sequences and sub-fragments and the nucleotide sequences which code for such peptide sequences and sub-fragments may also be used to discriminate between PrPc and PrPsc. Accordingly, the invention provides a method of discriminating between PrPc and PrPsc in which a sample is contacted with a substance selected from peptide sequences according to the invention, preferably those releting to regions A, B and C, and significant sub-fragments thereof, antibodies raised against said sequences and sub-fragments and the presence or absence of PrPsc is determined.
In some instances discrimination may be enhanced by pretreatment of the sample, for example by pre-digestion with enzymes e.g. proteinase K, or denaturation by strong alkali e.g. 6M guanidine hydrochloride or by a combination of such treatments.
It will be preferable to use the peptide sequences, antibodies and nucleotide sequences which relate to the specific subject under test, e.g. bovine sequences and antibodies for cattle, ovine sequences and antibodies for sheep.
It may be advantageous to immunise with a cocktail containing (i) a given analogue conjugated to more than one type of carrier molecule, and/or (ii) more than one kind of analogue conjugated to the same carrier molecule. Moreover, any of the peptide analogues, their conjugates, and cocktails thereof may be administered in any suitable adjuvant or delivery system, and more than one adjuvant or delivery system may be combined to form a so-called xe2x80x9csuper-cocktailxe2x80x9d. Preferred adjuvants and delivery systems include aluminium hydroxide (alum), liposomes, micelles, niosomes, ISCOMS, Brauns lipoprotein and whole-cell or components of microbial animal vaccines.